Unlocking the Law Symposium

Welcome to “Unlocking the Law: Deregulating the Legal Profession”

Licensing and regulation of lawyers, long questioned by scholars, is emerging as an important public issue.  Legal costs are rising for individuals and firms with increases in litigation and regulation.  These costs tax business growth and entrepreneurship and impede ordinary Americans’ access to the civil justice system.  Meanwhile, the development of new business structures and technologies and significant regulatory moves toward opening up competition for legal services in the UK and elsewhere are forcing policymakers to address lawyer licensing and regulation.   The U.S. is certainly not immune from the economic and other institutional forces nudging toward a reconsideration of existing licensing and regulation regimes.  It is an excellent time to reexamine the costs and benefits of existing and alternative regimes in light of these changes.

Day 1 of the Symposium (September 19, 2011) featured posts from:

Day 2 of the Symposium (September 20, 2011) featured posts from:

Please remember to check out the comments to the individual posts as well, which include some excellent additional commentary and lively discussion among participants.